Plant & Bird - A Japanese Sumi Painting

For Sale Plant & Bird - A Japanese Sumi Painting Giclee print, 8.5" x 11 Limited edition

Signed by artist

I've been working with painting markers to study the Japanese sumi painting technique. This painting came about after hours and hours of making attempts to understand the brush stroke.

For the New Reader...

 If you are new to the blog, under the Pages section on the right is The First Entry. All of the art and photography shown here is of my own creation. Please also visit my web site, ZoeMargo where you can see samples of my commercial work and fine art and order prints.  

     I am, I suppose, the quintessential artist - loved, ignored, in terrible health and poorly paid.  Anyone who feels compelled to help us can do so by clicking the link under Pages named The Picaro Life Sustainment Fund. Comments of a complimentary nature are always a pleasant surprise. 

The View From My Eyes

For sale.... Fort Pierce, Florida Giclee print, 8.5" x 11"

Limited edition

Signed by artist

August 6, 2011, Tucson, Arizona

This week I saw a neurologist at The Center for Neurosciences. There are about a thousand medical Centers in Tucson, I've never seen anything like it.  I am trying not to get worked up, anxious and depressed about the neurologist's prognosis. We looked at the x-ray of my neck and  right away we saw the problem.  Plus I have ''brisk reflexes" which does not augur well for my spine. The next step is the MRI procedure.  The idea of going though my fourth surgery is daunting, but. I am staying focused by reading P.G. Wodehouse novels and stories.

The Weather Statement

July 6, 2011

     This is the sort of photograph that makes me think I'm a pretty decent photographer.  Abra is such a beautiful cat. I don't think I'd have stayed alive if he hadn't come along. This is a creature with character, intuition and a great sense of adventure. 
     It is long and hot days here in Tucson. I don't know how anyone can work outside when it's 114 degrees. When it comes down to it, however much we believe we are in control of our destinies, we still can't control the weather.  That's why as long as I am here, I am glad that I am basically an indoor person with night owl tendencies who considers air conditioning as the penultimate human invention throughout all time. 

The Laggard Blogger

June 18, 2011  Tuscon, AZ

     I am becoming a laggard blogger. TIME IS A WIZARD. Not a bad title for a short story.
     I put this collage together in late January of 2010. We were west of Baton Rouge, Louisiana at a rest stop. The nights were cold.
      I had gone right by New Orleans, just missed every turnoff, and came upon a visitor center at the edge of Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge/Bayou on Route 10. We spent more time than I thought because Abra chose that night to go hunting and didn't come back until morning. So I sat in the Visitor Center building and played with pictures. Finally, Abra returned unscathed, and we trundled on. 
     We actually drove past Houston and spent the night in a parking lot in a town called Katy. Then I decided it was simply too cold to go through Texas with about thirty dollars in cash - I knew I'd just get sick having to sleep in the car. So I turned around and went back to Florida, staying several nights in the southeast corner of New Orleans, due to the generosity of an unusual woman of impeccable taste named Ida. She is the reason I ended up in Tucson. I had no idea I'd still be here this long. We have had some good fortune here. Bad fortune, also but for me, that's a given. I've had two different shrinks tell me I have the worst luck of anyone they had ever met. 
        I met with a psychologist a few days ago, to discuss how insane I might in fact be and if it was enough to merit becoming a recipient of federal disability. She said she would diagnose me as a major depressive. I don't know that I am really all that depressed at this point. The word that comes to mind is tired, just bone tired. I continue to hope for the best in regards to achieving some comfortable level of financial stability. All of these physical problems are just plain tiring. One would think that after twenty-five years of chronic pain, I'd be so used to it that it would become negligible. 

     But here is something nice. I had a note from a man who wrote on my Facebook page. 

    "I'm not prone to flowery allocades, but you do wonderful work. All art forms require both a good eye and sensitivity....you have both, and the added ability to translate what you feel and see into something the rest of us wish we could. For that, I thank you."
    

Jumble Mentality

For sale....

Tucson Palms at Sunset Giclee print, 8.5" x 11"

Limited edition

Signed by artist

June 2, 2011  Tucson, AZ
I am very fond of this picture. It is lovely coloring, gently symmetrical, and peaceful. Tucson is a twilight town. During the day, everything is sort of brown and dusty, and the sun is just all over the place, which is, I suppose, standard for the desert. Funny, I've been here over a year and I still cannot believe how devoid of water it is.

    There is a road here named River Road, which runs adjacent to a river but there is no water in it. 

    Still, the palm trees have such a pretty silhouette. 

    I am in a bit of a mental jumble over a recent medical diagnosis. In 2001, I had surgery to fix two blown cervical spine discs in my neck, which used a titanium plate to hold things together. This was about nine months after a surgery to address a lumbar disc problem. 
     A recent x-ray indicates that the screws used to attach the plate to my spine have backed out some. And now another disc is in the process of herniating. The solution, if it's warranted is surgery.      

Her Name is Enough

May 18, 2011 Tucson, Arizona

    Even at the age of eight, I felt a sardonic incredulity towards the world around me. I did like the Brownies, as it got me out of the house. I actually went to summer camp. Everyone but me got a nickname. Those in charge said the name Zoe was so unusual, why bother? 
     Here's something else unusual. I have a huge vitamin D deficiency - known in children as as rickets and in adults as osteomalacia. I may well be the only human being in Arizona who doesn't get enough sunlight.  I am also seriously anemic and am perhaps developing hypertension. Add that to my already chronic pain from degenerative discogenic disease and a multi-layered form of clinical depression, it is remarkable that I function at all. 

Abra x 3

Sunday, May 15, 2011
     Abra, Abra, Abra, alive and kicking. We have a new routine. Every afternoon or evening he wants to go for walk. In order to apprise me of his desire, he starts slinking around, and talking away. He eventually goes to the door, and makes as much ruckus as he can. When I don't come to him immediately, he comes and looks at me and then he really starts honking. He really is quite pushy. 
     I then find his leash - a new building rule - someone complained about his lying around in the hallway and running rampant in the yard so now we have to wear a leash when we go out. The neighbors think it's hysterical. He has adapted to it okay, so I clip it on and we go outside. Here, he varies the routine.        
     Sometimes, we walk and he is just sniffing out the perimeter. Then he likes to find a place to lie around and also do his little twist and shout routine while I try to keep him from strangling himself. Then as a whim, he will start running, literally pulling me along behind him. 
    At some point, we often come upon one or two of the stray cats who live on the property. Everyone freezes and sits - or in my case, stands. Usually the cat runs off. Then we come back home. 

Panic is Simply Not Good for the Nerves

Tuesday, May 3, 2011
     The apartment has a small closet which houses the water heater. Yesterday morning, at around 7:00am, I was awakened by the sound of Abra groaning, moaning, god it was awful. 
     He had somehow gotten the door open, jumped onto the top of the water heater, then fallen into the space behind it, head down and was wedged in, with no space to maneuver himself out. 
     I tried to reach over the brass hoses to pull him out, but could not. I ran next door to my neighbor, Anita, asking her did she have anything I could use to pull him out, but she didn't, but she joined me. I called 911, but the operator said the police could not help; I think she connected me to an animal rescue facility, who could not help, but directed me to someone who said he would come for sixty dollars - that's what it costs to rescue a pet. I said, just come, and then I really cannot be clear, but I somehow pulled myself over the top and through the hoses and grabbed onto his fur, and then he was free. 
      Survival. It is just terrifying to be up against a barrier, knowing that my poor boy won't get free without me. My nerves are shot. His, too.

Beautiful Men

Monday, May 1, 2011
     This is a watercolour painting with digital effects I made after seeing the British actor, Clive Owen, in the movie, King Arthur in about 2005. In it, he plays a rather naive Arthur, but he was very energetic and looked quite the stunner on a horse. Since then he has been busy portraying somewhat jaded characters in films such as I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, Sin City, Closer, Inside Man and Children of Men. He cries beautifully and loves shooting guns. I cannot think of another actor who has shot so many people in his films since John Wayne, who was another one who loved shooting everybody in sight. 
     King Arthur also showcased a British actress, Keira Knightly, who was remarkable as a nearly naked Guinevere in freezing weather shooting her bow and arrows with divine effect. It is probably what brought her into the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, in which she is equally impressive wielding a sword. 
     Tonight, I learned with the rest of the world, that we finally killed Osama bin Ladin, who had apparently spent his sneaky declining years living nicely in a mansion in Pakistan. 
     What is it with evil? So many evil people always seem to enjoy the best living circumstances. It is very annoying.

Oh Baudelaire, where have you gone?

Sunday, April 30, 2011  

  

I have been reading Les Fleurs du Mal by Charles Baudelaire, who writes,


"Today I felt pass over me a breath of wind from the wings of madness."  


This is someone I'd have really 
enjoyed getting to meet, .

Oh Marlon

Sunday, April 30,2011

This is a watercolor I painted while watching On the Waterfront, with Marlon Brando and Eva Marie Saint. 
In it, Brando, an ex boxer who throws a fight, tells his brother. "I could have been a contender."
     Two other lines always come to mind when I think of Brando.
     There is his remarkable and unforgettable cry, standing in the street in front of his apartment, yelling, "Stella! Stella!" in A Streetcar Named Desire. 
      The last is at the end of Apocalypse Now, when he
is buried up to his head in mud, calling out softly. "The horror, the horror."  
     Martin Sheen,  who played the lead, actually had a heart attack while making the movie, leaving Brando and Francis Ford Coppolla to sit around grousing about how they were never going to get out of the Philippines.

Dancing Shadow Plant

Wednesday, March 30, 2011
      Today is the anniversary of my grandmother's death. In Greek, the word for grandmother is Yaya. Emphasis on the second syllable. 
     She was the only glimpse of normalcy during a childhood wracked with the terror of  living with my mother, her daughter, Erofily.                   Yaya wasn't a happy woman, but she was kind. When I was a kid, she was always calling to me, " Ella, ella!" "Come! Come!" 
     The image on the left is of a carved wooden stamp for marking the top of baked bread. It is the only thing I have that was hers. It is on the kitchen counter. I touch it every day. 
     The photographic image below, I don't know exactly what it is.  I remember the plants and the shadows, but I cannot place the ground. I know it looks like steps, but it is not steps. It reminds me of her.  She is literally, the only person in my life who was always happy to see me. 
     I suppose that doesn't speak particularly well of me as a person, but to tell the truth, I don't really care at this point. I have never been a very big fan of the human race. I'll take the company of Abra any day. 

In the Woods

March 26, 2011
     Last night, with no warning, Abra began crawling across the floor and vomiting. He could not get up on his hind legs, and kept turning his head from left to right, with such fear on his face, it made me weep in helplessness. 
    After several minutes, he stopped vomiting and trying to move, and we lay on the floor together and for a few hours, I felt my powerlessness as I contemplated life without this beautiful creature, and how essentially, nothing about life is safe, and nothing about loss is beautiful. 
      He is better today. 

Who is Boss?

March 24, 2011
    It's been a tough couple of days. The car battery died, the car had to be towed and equipped with a new one, and there goes the phone payment. 
     This is what I have learned about car batteries in Arizona.  According to the towing master, "Year, year and a half, tops, I don't care how much it cost, they're all toast. The dry air just sucks the life right out of them."
     Then today, I attempted to try out a harness and leash with Abra. We managed to get out of the apartment, but after crawling for three steps, he collapsed to the floor and lay their lollygagging until I gave up and we  came back inside.
    There is nothing worse than having a cat look at you like you are so unbelievably mean and fall so below his expectation that his mind is boggled by your inhumanity. 
     Last night we noticed a new stray dog in the courtyard. There is quite the menagerie out there. There are people here that feed them, and at least it's warm most of the time.   

Narrow Horizons

March 20, 2011 Tucson, Arizona

Here is Abra, hunter and gatherer. It is difficult for him here as this is the first place we've lived where he cannot run around outside on his own. I believe I mentioned that we take strolls through the halls late at night. He also has chosen to lounge around in the hallway outside of our door, where he is king of a rather bare domain. He occasionally strolls from one end to the other, thinking god knows what narcissistic thoughts.
     Christopher Buckley is an an American writer who reminds me a lot of PG Wodehouse, the British comic novelist, author of the Jeeves the Butler and Bertie Wooster books. Buckley's novel, Thank You for Smoking was made into a film a few years ago.
     I am reading his book, Supreme Courtship about the machination of Washington political  intrigue - and the laughable yet scary ways people use power. This is from the book:
     "I've got principles. And if you don't like them, I've got other principles."

The Nuclear Power Has Arrived

March 17, 2011  Tucson, Arizona
     Here is a statement and should have been an award winning winning quote out of the past from President Ronald Reagan when he was fighting off the green environmentalists. He said,  "All the waste in a year from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk." One can only hope for the sake of Japan that he was correct.
     Off and on over the years, I have  spent enormous amounts of time and silver in the study of the Japanese sumi watercolor technique. There are very expensive special brushes and special papers and special paints involved. Also, one is supposed to bring one's reflective side to the surface. My attempts in the past were unsuccessful, but I've been working with a magic marker brush from a Japanese company named Coric Sketch and da la! This was done on a little 3" x 3" canvas and I like it very much.

My Darling Boy

Sunday, March 11, 2011

     I don't think it is presumptuous to define Abra as a deep thinker.

     This may not be his exact words, but at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Bill Clinton said something that I -and Abra, of course - found interesting. He said, "In the past two hundred years, nobody has made money by betting against America."
     I always liked Clinton. He has a very bright mind. Also, I actually made money when he was president. Whatever else you can say about Bill Clinton, he and Al Gore did a remarkable thing  - they balanced the budget.  
     I remember seeing Al on David Letterman, promoting  the crusade to cut government spending, when he demonstrated a wasteful federal mandate by bludgeoning an ashtray with a hammer.  This was his Top Ten List describing the good things about being vice president.
10. Police escorts get you to the movies faster.
9. I got to play tetherball with the inventor of tetherball.
8. After they sign a bill, there's lots of free pens.
7. If you close your left eye, the seal on the podium reads: President of the United States.
6. I get intellectual property rights to my speeches.
5. Dan Quayle and Gerald Ford are easy to beat during vice presidents week on Jeopardy.
4. You don't have to be funny to get invited on the Letterman show.
3. You get all the french fries the president can't get to.
2. You don't have to be a good speller to get the job.
1. Secret Service code name: Buttafuoco.

The Town That Keeps on Giving

Saturday, March 5, 2011  

   This photo just knocks me out. I'm working on updating my web site to include it and others shown in recent posts for sale as prints and greeting cards.
     I must say that if one happens to be an artist suffering from mental illness, Tucson is not a bad place to be. I have been fortunate to become involved with the Cafe 54 Foundation. It's website is www.cafe54.org 

     This is directly from their home page:    
     "Café 54 Art Foundation was established to provide and assist individuals recovering from mental illness the opportunity to express themselves through the creative arts.  All tips from the Café and the Café’s catering business go to the Art Foundation Fund. 
     This funding is available to any individual who is recovering from mental illness, currently working with a Behavioral Health Program who shows a desire to express themselves through the creative arts.  Local businesses, Sarnoff’s Art and Framing and Barb’s Frame of Mind have partnered with Café 54 to furnish art supplies, framing and matting at a discount to the program for the artists.... The individual is gifted art supplies in order to create new artworks.  Upon invitation, individual works of art are selected to be showcased in the Café for sale."

     What this means for me is that every other month, I get to pick one hundred dollars of supplies. Yesterday, I visited Sarnoff's, where they have come to know me well, given that it takes me anywhere from several hours to several days to decide what I want. It's such a remarkable gift and I want to be certain that the supplies I pick are absolutely neccessary will be well used. I got brands which I have never tried including a set of 15 prote'ge' brushes ($40) , an 18 tube set of Koi Watercolors ($40) and an Ampersand 18'"x 24'"aquaboard, which is an 1/8th" textured  clayboard ($20). This is the reason artists starve - prices for supplies are prohibitive. What I picked is on the low range of the curve. A 24 ml tube of watercolor paint can cost twenty dollars all by itself.

Heading for a Horizon

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Tucson, AZ

     I took this picture while Abra and I were driving from Arizona to California last October.  Such pretty colors, sweeping down to night in the desert. 

     We are beginning our third month at Western Winds Apartments. It is  a three story building, we are on the second floor. At about ten o'clock at night, we take a stroll through the halls, up stairs, down stairs. It gives Abra the chance to run like a devil horse through the corridors. The exercise makes him very happy. His happiness makes me laugh. 

The Rollover Cat

Saturday, February 26, 2011

    Who could not love this cat? Look at those legs! Look at those eyes! This is the Mr. Charmaloosa of cats. 
     I am curious about Abra's thought processes. what the world is to him. What is interesting about our relationship is that we are constantly surprised by one another. 
    I believe I mentioned before how nosy he is. If I have something in my hand, he has to see what it is and what smell it emanates. I think he wants me to know that whatever is mine, is his.

Right Out of the Blue

February 22, 2011 - TUCSON, AZ

I am amazed by the shakeup in the middle east. I came across an article about Gene Sharp, who wrote a book on how to peacefully dissolve a dictatorship, published in 1993,which has and is being used by the disenfranchised far and wide. It is called From Dictatorship to Democracy, fascinating, really.

     Now I know I'm just an artist, with a limited capacity to think beyond my own sense of reality, but from that standpoint, I must say that the world around me makes very little sense. All of a sudden, half of a continent has gotten up enormous courage and commitment and it appears that democracy actually is an ideal worth dying for. I have my suspicions, and my conclusion is that this has been Hillary's secret in the sand.  She's been awfully quiet for a Clinton.

     Right now, all of my courage is wrapped up in believing in myself and my abilities as an artist when it looks like my talent just isn't resulting in enough renumeration to hang a hat on.

     Still, as long as it's in the middle of the night - my depression is terrible when I first arise - I remain steadfast in the belief that one day, I will become as famous as  any other famous person.
     I have been brooding over the realization that Oprah, Jennifer and Ellen are, like me, Aquarians. I've been writing to Oprah for years, keeping her updated on my comings and goings, but she, unlike President Obama, (see my February 1oth entry) apparently does not read her mail.  It may be time to focus on Ellen. She is awfully upbeat, I wonder if she is a secret depressive.

Home Sweet Home

February 16, 2011 - TUCSON, AZ
It is beginning to sink in that after eighteen months of being on a pretty frightening edge, I actually have a home again. It is a lovely feeling. No one to try and please but Abra. Here is our view and Abra looking over our first plant.  

Update a Birthday

February 12, 2011 - TUCSON, AZ   
     Today is my birthday, a date I share with Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln. One would think that in such august company, I'd be able to keep my phone from disconnection, but despite all of my best efforts, success is a story I still cannot tell. There is money out there, of this I am sure. I just can't seem to get my hands on enough to float above the poverty level. 
     In the movie. High Society, one of the characters says," This is the sort of day history tells us is better spent in bed." Abra wholeheartedly agrees. 

A Letter from the President

February 10, 2011  - TUCSON, AZ

There are times when I am taken by surprise, as I was when I recently received an email from Barack Obama, or 'Obo' as I like to call him, which was responding to a note from me. 
     As I have written Obo on several occasions, I cannot be certain of my thoughts on that particular day - I also called at the White House at about 6:00 am last summer and cried all over the receptionist. I asked her to put me through to him, but she said she couldn't do that. 

     Here is my question: did he actually read one of my letters or not? Is his response a version of a standard script his in-house writers devise and send out to his constituents?  One of my letters included  this very nice portrait I did of him, but he does not mention it.
     I think what bothers me about Obama is that despite his gift for compassionate rhetoric, ultimately he is a wealthy man who hasn't got a clue about poverty in the 21st century.  This is something he said during the presidential campaign:


     "When you think like this – when you choose to broaden your ambit of concern and empathize with the plight of others, whether they are close friends or distant strangers – it becomes harder not to act; harder not to help."
     If one believes in helping the poor and disadvantaged, one has to say it pretty loud and keep saying it. Obama has lost his voice and seems to rely on the premise that given time, things will be alright. But this is no time for the quiet, strong man.

     I cannot say what it is that a president does day in and day out, but what I'm hoping he does is figure out how to govern in such a way that things actually get done. 

     He talks to every member of Congress until he is blue in the face, he asks each of them, on camera to explain why if they can afford a stylist, there are members of their constituency who cannot afford a pair of shoes. 
     The ultimate irony of today's world is that it is the obscenely wealthy who keep complaining about how bad the economy is. It is the fact that the 'billionaire' is now status quo. I don't understand why they are criticizing an economy that has served them so well. 
     One has to be willing to provoke and shame the greedy face to face, publicly and without reservation. You sit down with the Newt's and the Sarah's of the world, live on YouTube and NBC and ask them how the economy's been treating them lately. You ask them when was the last time they couldn't buy food for their children? Is it their mother who's pension was gobbled up by that bizarre entity,  'Wall Street', shivering in some Walmart doorway, trying to act welcoming to customers while she's so worn out she can hardly keep from falling over? 
     If you want people to understand poverty, you actually show poverty, right here in America,  day after day, even create a reality show if that is what it takes, and stop pretending that saying 'oh woe, I understand the suffering of the poor but just be patient' is enough. Not when unemployment remains at a robust 9.4%. You send your people to check in with Oprah and Jon and the View and Rush, that tremendously popular Republican and one time Speaker of the House who had to resign because his ethics were questionable. You send them there to let Americans know what exactly is being done for them today. 
     If you want to be a man of the people, you don't generate even a rumor that you will propose steep cuts in the government's energy assistance fund for low-income Americans, not while the first lady is wearing six hundred dollar shoes. You don't ever think you are doing a good job while the elderly freeze and children cannot afford their school lunch. Ever.

Green Grass in Tucson

January 25, 2011
TUCSON, AZ
    We are still in Tucson. Although today the politics creating a determination to persecute the Hispanic community here and then the horrific Safeway murders on the 8th have Tucson, Arizona down as perhaps  the most reviled location in recent history, you really cannot beat the winter weather, which is no winter at all. Sixty to seventy degrees, sunny, dry, very pleasant. 
     Here is some very good news. Abra and I have  moved into a lovely apartment in the northwest corner of Tucson. It overlooks a courtyard with actual green grass,  watered daily and deciduous trees, the first I've seen since I got here. 
     Who knew mental dysfunction could offer a route for my survival? La Frontera is a state funded outpatient mental health facility here. I went there in the summer to ask for their help getting my meds and after a long interview, I was given a diagnosis as' A Person with Severe Mental Illness. ' It was rather disconcerting because I have always assumed that although  my depression is real, and I have to take medication, that others just don't see it as being that bad and my failure to function and maintain relationships of any sort is a big fat lie I have made up to avoid supporting myself.  In this dichotomy of life, I am also told that I am too hard on myself. 
     The SMI diagnosis made me able to qualify for Section 8 federally, funded housing and the state has been giving  me food stamps and health benefits.  Arizona takes mental health seriously, except for when it comes to cash, which is difficult because it is necessary to have means to pay for electricity, telephone, internet and gas - almost $3 a gallon! I keep scrambling about, marketing my prints and cards and web design, sending out links to the blog and my website but it is very tough. I am receiving temporary help from my sisters and my niece, which none of them can really afford, and I am waiting for my application to receive an income from the  federal disability program to finish processing.
     The picture of the angels in my courtyard is a combination of photography and design with photography software. I've labeled it photo art. It will soon be added to my ZoeMargo website  in the  prints and cards for sale section.

Computers Are Artists, Too

This is one of the things I can do using the computer as a brush. It is one of the reasons computer technologies  have grabbed hold of my attention - the possibilities of changing and modifying images are endless.

Abra and I have been given our walking papers, and are to be out of our present refuge by December 24th.

Please do buy some prints and cards from my website, ZoeMargo. There is still time before Christmas. We need gas and Abra wants his Fancy Feast. He has also become very fond of a Whiskas product called Temptations Milk treats.

It is incredible, how long he is. And getting quite heavy, but who could not adore this creature. As a matter of fact, he's been invited by our hosts to stay, but sorry, this is one creature I cannot do without. Also, it would break  his little heart as he, at least adores me.

Help Her Help Them

A young woman named Casey Feldman was killed last summer when she walked across the  street and was hit by a car driven by someone not paying attention to the road. It is a sad story. She collected stray animals and volunteered at homeless shelters. The site is www.caseyfeldmanfoundation.com

Out of Tucson, Once Again

Our presence in this particular household has run its course. Over the next few weeks I will pack up the car and as far as I know, drive away from Tucson. I am vague about the direction we will head, except to say it probably will not be east.

Still in Tucson

I never imagined that I would spend so much time in Tucson, but here we are. Abra and I have been staying with a couple who take in stray cats and dogs. They have six cats and six dogs and us. It has been tough for us, all of the navigating and accommodating. The tabby is Sunny and he and Abra often are together outside. In the photos, Sunny is very comfortable showing his opinion of my artwork.

We Will Not Give Up

I am not by nature, an optimist, which is why this picture is surprising to me. I can always imagine life getting worse. You can buy this image as a print or greeting cards at my website,  ZoeMargo

Imagine This

Imagine this. You awaken on a world called earth, a country called America, a state called Maryland, a city named Annapolis. You do not know it yet, but you are an artist. 

to continue.....

Coast to Coast

October 3, 2010  -  LOS ALAMOS, CALIFORNIA

Abra and I left Tucson on October 1st, and I took this shot in Malibu, California today. After six blissful months - not that blissful, because I couldn't make any money and was worried sick but at least we had a respite in a lovely house - we are on the road again, back in the car.  

Tthe Truth and Nothing But

Life has been more difficult, and I have been less than willing to write about it. And yet, despite the fact that I am depressed out of my mind from worrying constantly about my non-existent income, I am creating some surprisingly good photography and art. Above is my latest. I like it quite a bit.

I had hoped to generate more  income with my cards and prints (see below) but thus far, the only people who have bought them have been friends of my friend, Ida, who has been tireless in her efforts and good wishes for me.

There is a practicality to life which I have never quite understood.  I don't have a lot of skills, but I know how to design a web site that actually works, and I can paint a portrait that actually looks like the person. I also do animals. A few good commissions, commercial or fine art, and I'd be back on my feet

I wish that someone with some power would stop ignoring the 9.6% unemployment rate in the United States. It is a terrible thing, to be able to do good work and have no venue in which to do so.

Doing Art is No Walk in the Park

June 10, 2010 - TUCSON, ARIZONA

Michelangelo once wrote to a friend that the experience of painting the dome of the Sistine Chapel was making his head hurt and had rendered him completely broke because he couldn't get the pope to pay him. I do art because it's the only thing I know how to do. What impresses me is that I've spent half a century working as an artist and despite the rather poor return on investment, I just keep doing it and remarkably, I keep getting better. 

This is Tucson - or is it?

May 16, 2010 - TUCSON, ARIZONA

 Tucson is at its best at sunset. A rather lackluster environment at noon, with the sun everywhere all over the place bleaching out land and sky, becomes filled with deep tonal qualities and mysterious shadows. I feel rather like Ansel Adams, my photographic hero. He did things in his darkroom and created a high contrast to the mid tones,  images that reverberate with the soul.